yoga musings and resources

Hi Yin Yogis! It’s a new year and I have lots of Yin and Yin Yang trainings ahead. This year I’ll continue to offer weekend TT modules that you can take at Yoke Yoga. Take as many modules as you like or take all three and complete a written assignment to earn a 50 Hour certificate. I’ve heard the feedback from yoga teachers that it can be difficult to get covers for weekend classes, plus it makes the training more expensive when you give up the income from those classes. I get it! So, this year I’m also partnering with […]

Have you been thinking about Yin training in 2017? Me too! I’ve got some trainings scheduled at two beautiful Melbourne-area studios. If you want to know more, keep reading… Ohana Yoga This cosy, welcoming Port Melbourne studio is hosting 3 Yin trainings from Aug to November. Due to the size of the studio, we can only take 18 students per training so get in quick if you’re keen! Course: One-Day “Yin-tensive” (25 Aug 2017) Tuition: $275 (includes manual and Certificate of Completion) Schedule: 9:30am to 5:30pm Description: For those unable to attend the earlier Fundamentals trainings at Ohana Yoga (Feb 2017) and Yoke Yoga […]

I get a lot of questions about the structure of my Yin Teacher Trainings. So, I thought I’d take the time to answer some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS) here. FAQs Am I required to do a teacher training in order to teach Yin? Legally, you are not required to attend a Yin Teacher Training in order to lead Yin Yoga classes. So, why should I attend a training? The Yin method asks students to step into a more intimate relationship with the postures of yoga. Students need to understand a bit more about how their bodies work and how stretching […]

Time flies! (which is my way of saying sorry I didn’t send a Spring Newsletter) Instead of sitting at my computer writing said newsletter, here’s what I’ve been up to instead. In February, I ran my first movement workshop at a CrossFit gym (the amazing CrossFit Freefall in Seaford) and we played around with efficient and fun ways to mobilize hips and shoulders so these Crossfitters can jump, squat, and lift better. Later that month I returned to Perth (and one of my favorite studios Beyond Being) to lead Yin Sequencing training. Then I squeezed in a weekend of education for myself with MovNat. And by education […]

One of the things it took me a long time (and a few injuries) to really grasp is that flexibility and mobility are not the same thing. Simply put,flexibility is your end range of motion. Mobility is the range of motion where you can maintain control of your movements. People define “control” in different ways but I would say control means you understand where you are in space, you understand the forces at play and the direction in which you intend to move yourself (or yourself and an object) you have the ability to slow the movement down or speed it […]

Before I moved to Australia and became a full-time yoga teacher, I had a different life. I was a documentary filmmaker focused for many years on using the power of media to draw attention to political, economic, and social injustice. Frequently that work put me in contact with women leading small organizations or grass roots movements with few resources but unwavering commitment to fight for the health and safety of their communities. Often they were motivated by personal experience with violence and exploitation whether it was the brutality of the Taliban in Afghanistan or sex trafficking in Asia or domestic violence in the United States. In order to help […]

Overview Yin Yoga is more than resting on a prop (although you will certainly learn how to use props more creatively!) Yin is not an endurance test to see how long you can squeeze your eyeballs, clench your jaw, and hold a pose. It’s not the aggressive pursuit of flexibility (and you don’t even have to be able to touch your toes to get started!) It is not the yoga for when you are injured or sick and cannot do an athletic flow (although Yin can help you heal). Yin is not about drifting off but learning to pay attention […]

If you’ve ever tried to untangle your headphone cords, you know that the most difficult part is trying to figure out where the whole tangled mess starts! If you are distracted or in a hurry, you will pull in all directions, make a few more knots, blame whoever has recently pissed your off for the whole mess, and go back to walking around being half-strangled by hopelessly tangled cords. Meanwhile beneath the protective outer sheath of the cord, the delicate copper wires that ensure the quality of the sound reaching your ears are slowly degenerating. Of course the alternative to […]

This year Movement by Design founder Luke Bryan and I have partnered to create and facilitate a new kind of anatomy training for yoga teachers. Rather than asking teachers to memorize muscle origins and insertions or scripted alignment cues, we challenge teachers to think critically about what good movement means and how to achieve it. We focus on teaching movement principles that hold true whether you are extending into a backbend or diving under an olympic lift. So how did an Olympic Lifting coach and a yoga teacher meet and decide to develop training together in the first place? Well, funny […]

Ohana Yoga was one of the first places in Melbourne to offer Yin Yoga classes so I am really excited to offer two weekends of Yin Yoga training in Ohana’s new spacious, light-filled Port Melbourne studio. These two weekend trainings can be taken separately or combined for a 30 Hour certificate. The first weekend is Yin Fundamentals (15 hours) and the second weekend is Yin Sequencing (15 hours) Both trainings are open to all levels, including students of Yin Yoga who simply wish to deepen their personal practice. Here are the details: Schedule: Yin Fundamentals: Saturday April 9- Sunday April 10, 2016 […]